Florida probate court exists in no small part to help facilitate the transfer of property when someone dies. Although some adults very carefully plan their estates to avoid probate proceedings, many estates end up requiring probate court oversight.
When you agree to serve as the personal representative of a Florida estate, you may need assistance while navigating the probate courts. Understanding what Florida law says about estate administration and your rights or responsibilities during that process will be key to avoiding mistakes that could have lasting repercussions.
What benefits come from hiring a probate lawyer to assist you?
You can learn about what the law says
Making sense of Florida probate law is a challenge for the average person unfamiliar with state statutes regarding inheritance rights and estate responsibilities. From understanding if a testator’s instructions violated someone’s inheritance rights to establishing what steps you need to take as the representative of the estate, a lawyer’s advice can help you understand what the law says about your current situation.
You can avoid expensive mistakes
Those fulfilling someone’s last wishes and outstanding obligations could end up responsible for debts and taxes that they don’t pay if they mismanage the probate process. What seems appropriate and reasonable from your perspective may not actually align with your requirements under state law. A Florida probate attorney can help you fulfill your responsibilities and avoid mistakes, like failing to notify creditors, that could come back to haunt you later.
You can minimize your time investment
Estate administration inevitably requires a significant commitment of time from the person attending probate court and managing assets. Still, it is possible to reduce how much time you have to personally commit to court and other matters when you have a probate attorney helping handle the process.
You can operate with the confidence that comes from knowing a legal professional has reviewed and assisted in every step of the process. You typically can also count on the estate itself to pay for your representation, which means you don’t have to cover the cost of your lawyer. Even when the estate doesn’t have enough resources to pay for every debt owed by someone, it could still potentially help pay for the lawyer that guides you through the process.
Understanding how legal help benefits you during the estate administration process can help you see the value in securing representation from a probate attorney.